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This skirt came into my life as an ankle-length gored skirt - £1 from East Street market. I loved the slightly two-tone effect of the fabric (no idea what it is - all labels snipped out) but it was just too long and stuck straight out like a lampshade cover. Got comments everytime I wore it, but of the 'What did you come as?' type. Ha-ha.

Sorry there's no evidence - I started work on this refashion long before I realised the value of 'before' pictures to the refashionista!

So I added a lining and scooped the skirt up into it. This didn't quite shorten it enough, so some scrunched-up irregular handfuls, handstitched into place, gave it a pleasing sort of Ann Demeulemeester look and the texture brings out the heathery sheen of the two-tone colour.

I feel I should sign off by saying something cool in flemish. But I actually don't know how to say ANYTHING in flemish, so Voilà will have to do. I tried explaining how I did this in my blog - not exactly a tutorial but it WILL point you in the right direction...

Several months ago I offered to refashion some clothes for a friend's seven-year old daughter. She gave me a velvet skirt and a slightly-shrunken cashmere sweater, and I said, "No problem."

After I washed the sweater, and saw that one elbow was stained with what appeared to be soy sauce, and that moths had gnawed about the sleeves, my enthusiasm waned. As is typical of me, I then shoved it all in a sack, in a drawer and forgot all about it.

I guess the perennial back-to-school, new-dress urge hit me today because I finally dug it out and decided to do something with it.

First, I darned moth holes and hand-sewed patches over the elbows to hide stains and holes.

I cut off the bottom of the sweater at the center of the waist shaping, and the top of the skirt where it was just a bit bigger than the sweater waist. With the side seams matched up, I sewed them together with a stretch stitch easing the skirt to fit the top.A rather simple flower made of more green fabric with a blue blue button center sewn on with bright orange thread adds a little fun to the front and ties the elbow patches in.

I have been so busy sewing I have not had time to post..New to this blogging world and I am just not very good at the picture taking yet.I don't know what I am doing wrong. Anyway over at my blog I have the story of how this apron came to be and pics. www.greenhoneyhive.blogspot.com .(New member free gift giveaway on my blog) It started as a prom dress that I found in the bottom of a clean box of scrap and half finished sewing projects someone had put at the curb for the Salt Lake City annual large item trash pick-up......Just an FYI, since I am no longer nursing my mother-in-law our blog will be having daily posts on our crafty life and of our business of taking wood and discarded furniture from this pick-up and re-working and re-making and selling them locally. Anyway here is the prom dress pic. Just a strapless number that had never had the zipper put in it or finished....It was white with no spots at all. I cut about 8" off the bottom, and then cut a new v- neck and cut it into an apron shape that would tie to the back and curve up the back to give it some sass. I used material leftover from a pioneer pantaloon and corset cover project to make the ruffle/flounces that were cut on the bias so it would flounce without to much gather.....Too many layers to gather it too much or it would have looked poofy not flouncy. I then finished all the flounce edges with premade bias tape from my stash and used it for the neck ties and back waist ties.....The actual apron went together very quickly but sewing all that bias tape together to get the ties took some serious time......I think my tribute to "I Love Lucy" and the Carmen Miranda episode turned out pretty sassy and cute. How about you? More at my blog and new member free gift give away. Check out it out at www.greehoneyhive.blogspot.com

at some point about five years ago my body decided to get a bit heavier and thicker all around. i believe this is called turning 30.

i had never had an easy time as it was finding tops and dresses that fit me correctly; i was forever pinning up flappy bits around the armholes or trying to indicate that i actually do have a waist. when i started sewing, around the time of the 30 change, i thought that sewing could stave off the increasing difficulty i was having to find something that fit me that wasn't a knit.

yet the sizing problem followed me, because as i now know patterns are cut for a B cup, which i last visited somewhere around my 13th birthday.

so enter simplicity 2599:

blame the wonky lighting and the uncoordinated fleece pants on the fact that i stayed up late finishing this top and was so freakin' excited i had to photograph it right then. at least you can't see that i'm wearing far too dark a bra for this fabric. it fits better than it looks in the top pic, trust me; i hadn't ironed it yet. this is from simplicity's multi-bust line, with separate front pieces for b, c, and d cups.

i have to say that when i did up the side and shoulder seams and tried it on i almost got weepy. it's been a long time, people. so many disappointments along the way, so many beautiful tops that gapped at the buttons, or with detailing that ran over my bust instead of beneath it like it was supposed to. so many days of wearing baggy shirts and smocky tops that added pounds, or snug shirts that i didn't dare flex or breathe in lest i pop out of the front.

is it perfect? heck no. my darts are lousy, the button in the back gaps a bit. but if you can imagine how it feels to be sized out of the department store, and to take up sewing only to realize you're going to have to perform scherenschnitte on every pattern you buy because absolutely nothing in the world is made for you, well, this is pretty sweet. i'm buying a second copy of 2599 because i am never ever letting go of this pattern. and then i might have to go buy the entire line of these patterns, just because. simplicity: i heart you. keep 'em coming.

Trying to be more regular about posting! So here's a skirt I finished with a very little bit of refashioned material, but lots of refashion-y potential.

Stash buttons, the waistband was cut out of a dress that will eventually be chopped down into a blouse [the hips have about -2" of ease on them!], stash fabrics and buttons.

As you can see, I tucked a little pleat into each patchwork panel.

Also, used felled hems for a clean interior finish, and bias tape on the hem and to finish off the waist facing. I love a nice, clean inside!

Oh, but can't you just imagine all the refashion-y potential? All your leftovers from other refashions, put in one place! Think of those mens button down shirts that have been refashioned, and nothing to do with the sleeves! The stripes would look great running in both directions [hm, now there's an idea. Not that I need a third patchwork skirt]. You could also opt for wider stripes, an elastic waistband, a ruffle .......

We live in a sunny part of the country so my kids and I wear a lot of light colored clothing. The downside of light colors is the easy stain potential. These are all formerly white items that were headed for the rag bag until I refashioned them with I-Dye:

There are two great things about this dye that I like. One is the rich variety of shades available. I don't find a lot of these vibrant colors on store shelves where I live.

The other thing I like is the ease. You can simply add the dyes to the hot water cycle of your washing machine. More info on how-to and where to mail order the dyes here on my blog. What's also interesting is that most cotton commercial garments are sewn with polyester thread which resists color so your formerly white cotton shirt with white polyester thread dyes like this:

I got a pair of medium sized pajama pants at the thrift shop last week and I told my daughter that i would make her something out of it. I pretty much re-conned the whole thing. the only thing that is conceivable preconstructed is the elastic waistband part and the bottom hem of the sleeves( which were the feet ends of the pants). I had some terry tee shirt fabric that i got ages ago for $1 a yard laying in the sewing pile so i used that and a ratty shirt that was big on her for a vneck pattern. She asked for the under-v area to be poofy.. so i did what she wanted.

The skirt is so cute... she is in love with it. However.. in my opinion the terry stretches a TON.. i hope it will shrink just a tad in the wash.